“We have no intention of expanding”.
The Nintendo Museum looks amazing but it’s located in Japan and not everybody will be able to make the trip. So, is there a chance of Nintendo opening more museums outside of its homeland?
Well, as you can see in the headline, according to Miyamoto it won’t be happening. In a recent Game Watch interview, the Nintendo legend mentioned how the company had “no intention” of expanding the museum to other locations.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, slated for release on February 28 is an action-adventure game that stars Goro Majima as the sole protagonist for the first time. After losing his memory and being stranded on Rich Island near Hawaii, Majima takes on the role of a pirate and sets out on a grand oceanic adventure. Recently showcased at the Tokyo Game Show 2024, I had the opportunity to get hands-on with this highly anticipated title, and here’s my impression of the gameplay experience.
In this hands-on preview, players control Majima as he embarks on an adventure in Hawaii, engaging in battles and activities. At the start of the game, Majima is shown traveling by ship with his crew, including Jason, his son Noah, and Masaru, a chef and bodyguard. Their goal is to reach the imaginary island of Madlantis, but they make a stop in Honolulu to prepare.
As Majima and Noah stroll along the beach, the battle tutorial begins. Unlike the RPG live-command system of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, this title returns to Majima’s action-packed, brawling roots, last seen in Yakuza Kiwami 2. Players can switch between two battle styles, Mad Dog and Pirate, with the latter involving a transformation into pirate-themed attire.
In the Mad Dog style, Majima primarily uses his fists and a knife for combat. Compared to Kazuma Kiryu, Majima’s movements are noticeably quicker, with agile footwork and rapid attacks. A standout feature of this style is the ability to jump, allowing Majima to perform air combos. Players can enjoy the satisfaction of launching enemies into the air and continuing their attacks mid-air. The extended airtime makes it easy to execute aerial combos for those unfamiliar with action games.
Additionally, as time passes or when Heat Actions are activated, the Madness Gauge in the top left corner of the screen fills up, allowing Majima to create clones. Once triggered, four shadowy duplicates of Majima appear and begin attacking nearby enemies. It’s exhilarating to see Majima at the center, spinning like a top with his clones and knocking enemies around.
The Pirate style focuses on attacks using pirate-themed weapons, especially the cutlass, a curved, single-edged sword pirates carry around in films. Majima can dual-wield cutlasses to slash enemies and even throw them like boomerangs. The Charge Gun increases in power the longer the button is held, and there’s also the option to use wire hooks. This allows Majima to either attack from a distance or quickly close the gap with enemies, offering versatile combat strategies depending on the situation.
In combat, you can seamlessly switch between the two battle styles at any time. Even players who aren’t comfortable with action games can enjoy flashy, dynamic moves by mixing and matching these styles. The Pirate style in particular, with its use of pirate-themed tools and unique actions, is sure to become addictive. Similar to Kiryu’s gadget-based Agent style from Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Majima’s Pirate style offers a tricky way to fight.
After completing the battle tutorial, I was able to explore and enjoy various activities in Honolulu freely. I got to try out popular features like Karaoke and Boutique, along with the explosive race Dragon Kart and the stunt-based delivery game, Crazy Delivery. Though these activities are familiar to players, experiencing them as Majima instead of Ichiban Kasuga brought a fresh twist to the gameplay.
After playing for a while, you can talk to Jason, and finally set foot on the island of Madlantis. It’s a desolate place known as a ship graveyard, where mafia and gangs gather. The island exudes an atmosphere of decay, and you’ll frequently get into fights with rowdy individuals. Additionally, there are gambling spots to enjoy games like poker.
As you gather information from the roughnecks and head towards the bar where Keith resides, a battle ensues. Surrounded by a horde of henchmen, Majima’s combat skills truly shine. Using the Mad Dog style, you can confuse enemies with swift, acrobatic moves while wielding your knife. On the other hand, the Pirate style allows you to unleash wide-range attacks with dual swords. The one-on-one fight with Keith offers thrilling action, as you dodge, guard, and strike at opportune moments.
While the idea of Majima becoming a pirate might seem far-fetched, the gameplay proves to be a solid action-adventure experience. Majima’s characteristic Mad Dog persona shines through, showing that even with memory loss, he can’t help but enjoy the thrill of battle. There’s much to look forward to when Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii launches on February 28 on PS5.
Resident Evil’s awkward middle child, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, is now available via GOG. It follows in the leaking, shambling footsteps of Residents Evil 1 and 2, which likewise oozed onto the platform in June and in August respectively.
Konami and Bloober Team will soon release their Silent Hill 2 remake for PlayStation 5 and Steam, but a PC almost didn’t happen at all.
News that Konami nearly left PC players behind comes from Bloober CEO Piotr Babieno, who spoke about the sequel remake ahead of its October launch (via Bankier.pl). Although the Silent Hill 2 reimagining is a project that fans have begged for years for, its release was nearly limited to only one platform. The only thing that saved it from sticking exclusively with PlayStation at launch was Bloober itself.
“Definitely Silent Hill 2 is a game that has been associated with the PlayStation brand from the very beginning,” the CEO said (as translated by DeepL). “At the very beginning, we had to push Konami very hard to lean on the PC topic. For them the main market is PlayStation, while looking at the interest on Steam, it seems that it should also be a successful launch.”
After much anticipation, Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake was announced in October 2022. It’s a title fans have waited ages to see revealed, but the road to its launch hasn’t been without issues. When fans took issue with a combat trailer that arrived in January, Babieno quickly clarified that the footage was handled by Konami, not Bloober. At the time, he went as far as to say that the trailer in question was “not the spirit of what used to be, or what we’re creating now.” The CEO also asked fans to give the team “a chance” last month.
The October launch will be Bloober’s opportunity to prove itself. For now, it appears Bloober is confident that its push to release the Silent Hill 2 remake on PC via Steam will pay off.
The Silent Hill 2 remake has a release date of October 8 for PC and PS5. It will be one of the biggest game releases of the fall season when it arrives, but players on other console platforms won’t be able to enjoy it for at least one year due to an exclusivity deal with Sony. We went hands-on with Bloober’s remake and shared our findings in August. At the time, we said that the survival-horror remake is shaping up to be “an extremely faithful reimagining that mostly resists the urge to alter the successful formula of a stone-cold classic.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
I don’t know why it’s throwback racing game Christmas, but it is. Parking Garage Rally Circuit came out September 20th, Golden Lap is out tomorrow, Victory Heat Rally is out October 3rd, and today – today brings the Steam Early Access release of #Drive Rally, an unfortunately hashtagged arcade racer trying to recapture the “spirit of the 90s”.
Music to our ears.
AI is, for better or worse, one of the hot topics of 2024. It’s bloomin’ everywhere at the moment. Naturally, there’s a lot of speculation on whether major video game companies will implement the technology into their work (and many, it seems, already have), but Nintendo fans will no doubt be delighted to hear that the Japanese firm may be steering its ship in a completely different direction.
In fact, famed creator Shigeru Miyamoto pretty much said as much during a recent interview with The New York Times (thanks, IGN). In discussing Nintendo’s ongoing approach with game development, he mentioned AI as a key topic that the company is aware of, but perhaps not interested in pursuing (at least, not in the same way as its peers).
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
The post Official Xbox Podcast | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: On Location at The Grand Canyon appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is either a high-fantasy Persona or a Shin Megami Tensei with cool fonts and a warm heart. Edwin dug its hybrid combat system, while James was moved by its mad libs monster design. It has an October 11th release date, but you don’t have to wait until then to begin plotting it and you along these various axes. There’s a demo you can play out now.
With Assassin’s Creed Shadows getting delayed into 2025, it is now in direct competition with Ghost of Yotei, the Ghost of Tsushima sequel announced during yesterday’s Sony State of Play.
The move begs comparison between the two, as they’re both games set in feudal Japan and feature classical images of ninjas, samurai, and ronin. But despite the similarities, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says there’s room enough for two big open-world action-adventure games set in Japan.
“There’s a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well,” Guillemot said.
On what differentiates the two, Guillemot focused on Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ dual protagonists, which allows players to take control of either a ninja or a samurai.
“The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays…. a setting taking place in feudal Japan should be really enticing,” he said.
One way or another, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be facing a lot of competition now that it’s been pushed into February 2025, as it will be pitted against Avowed, Civilization VII, Monster Hunter Wilds, and a host of other high-profile games. Indeed, 2025 is shaping up to be a very busy year in general thanks to the expected release of the Switch 2 and GTA VI.
To try and give Assassin’s Creed Shadows a boost, Ubisoft plans to release it Day 1 on Steam in a shift from its previous strategy. It also confirmed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will include PS5 Pro enhancements.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases February 14 on PS5, Xbox, and PC, and you can read our hands-off preview right here. As for Ghost of Yotei, we don’t have a release date yet, but expect it to come out closer to the holidays. In the meantime, you can read about the best video games of 2024 right here.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
In a note to investors on Wednesday, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledged that the company’s “second quarter fell short of expectations” and vowed to launch “a review aimed at further improving our execution.”
But Guillemot also addressed some of the cultural conversations happening around the company lately, which have intensified around Star Wars Outlaws and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows (which was delayed to February 2025 today) in particular.
“Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately,” Guillemot said. “I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
Otherwise, Guillemot stated an emphasis on “a player-centric, gameplay-first approach,” while focusing on “focusing on two key verticals – Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences.”
Read Guillemot’s full statement below.
Ubisoft last commented on some of the conversation surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows in July, issuing a controversial statement to its Japanese fans in which it apologized for promotional materials that “have caused concern” among its community.
Guillemot’s statement is one aspect of Ubisoft’s message to investors that’s been making headlines today. Elsewhere in the note, Ubisoft admitted that its most recent release, Star Wars Outlaws, had a “softer than expected launch,” and revealed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will mark a return to the company’s releases hitting Steam on Day 1.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
